Scavenger Life Episode 375: New Beginnings in Concrete

This topic has 108 replies, 36 voices, and was last updated 7 years, 7 months ago by Rydell Relics.

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- 09/03/2018 at 9:05 am #48286
  Ryanne
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @ryanne
  I have to start by apologizing for the poor audio quality in part of this recording. I don’t know what was going on this week, but our recorder mad
  [See the full post at: Scavenger Life Episode 375: New Beginnings in Concrete]
- 09/03/2018 at 9:32 am #48290
  totommyto
  Participant
  Location: Naples, Fl
  @totommyto
  Easy to be first or close to first when you work an early regular desk job every Monday and summers are S L O W! The podcast is extra special for me.
  Going to post before start listening. Glad you are both back, windy sounding or not!
  Posting Etsy numbers first since that store outperformed eBay, first time since keeping those kinds of stats.
  
  8/26 – 9/1/18
  
  Etsy store Oldfleatoymarket
  
  Total store items: 572
  Number of items sold: 13
  Etsy sales ( not counting s/h): $332.50
  Cost of items sold: $40.50
  Consignment payouts: 0
  Highest price sold: vintage Tammy doll fashion set – $60.00
  Average price sold: $25.57
  Returns: $30 – vintage bike bell siren
  Money spent on new inventory: $100.00
  Number of items listed this week: 24
  
  eBay store totommyto
  
  Total store items: 597
  Number of items sold: 8
  eBay sales (not counting s/): $282.10
  Cost of items sold: $4.50
  Consignment payouts: $67
  Highest price sold: $135 – 1:18 scale Diecast car
  Average price sold: $35.26
  Returns: 0
  Money spent on new inventory: $105
  Number of items listed this week: 5
  
  Now over to the podcast…
  - This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by totommyto.
- 09/03/2018 at 10:26 am #48292
  MDC Galleries & Fine Art
  Participant
  Location: Atlanta
  @huncrelan
  Jay you are correct, WonderLister and SixBit both keep all information on a buyer forever. Even if you cancel your 3rd party subscription, every little bit of history on every sale you have ever made is still available to you as long as you own your computer and still use it. The database that these programs create and save all your data including the photos is yours. You own the database and can even transfer that database to a new computer.
  
  The complete listing sold and unsold, pricing history, edits, buyers name, address, phone number, city, state, scale weight, shipping weight, final value fees, shipping costs, offers, numbers of offers, amounts of offers, every single thing about your life and existence on Ebay and even other selling platforms is saved in your SQL database that the app creates and saves too. And if you sell on Etsy, Shopify, etc. it also cross synchs those sites, if a sale is made on one platform, they delete from the other platforms, everything.
  
  Our subscription is $25 a month for up to 5,000 listings. But the Etsy and Shopify platforms do cost a little more as add-ons. WonderLister has a $5 per month plan for up to 1,000 listings. This is a great plan to get started and for small stores.
  
  Michael at MDC Galleries and Fine Art
- 09/03/2018 at 10:41 am #48293
  simplicio
  Participant
  Location:
  @simplicio
  Glad to hear you guys back in action! Regarding authentification for the forum – I’m a little surprised because every login is through a captcha challenge, and I am sure registration was too although I don’t recall. Is captcha not sufficient to weed out spambots?
  
  Had a fair to middling week with slightly negative cashflow. But I listed a ton of good stuff. Had to go 3 hrs out of town for one huge auction haul, then listed practically all of it that night.
  
  Sales: CAD$901, 6 items, COGS: $93 –> Item profit: $669
  Expenditures: $948, Cashflow after tax: -$360
  Notable sales: arc lamp bulb $380, bought for $5. My only return customer to my knowledge – he bought the same bulb from me a few months ago. Also a medical restraint device for $200, bought for $10 I think.
  Listed: $8215, 20 items
  Scavenge of the week: 430 used smoke detectors (ionization type) for $120. These are hard to price but if they’re worth at least $10 apiece, I’m looking at $4k. Solds on individual ones are up to the $50 range, but these are pretty beat up. IF they sell at all, they’ll make me a lot of money. That’s always the big if.
  - 09/03/2018 at 12:23 pm #48299
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    i still get a ton of fake sign-ups even though there is a CAPTCHA.
    not sure why, but they get through.
- 09/03/2018 at 10:51 am #48294
  MDC Galleries & Fine Art
  Participant
  Location: Atlanta
  @huncrelan
  Security cameras will do nothing more than show you a movie of your merchandise getting taken away and provide evidence of the thief for maybe prosecution.
  
  The caller’s story lays the ground work for having business insurance or adding a rider to your homeonwers umbrella policy. Business insurance will covers you in a lot of cases like theft, fire, water damage, hurricanes, tornado’s, roof collapse and things like that depending on the type of policy or rider you have. If you are in an apartment or condo, what about damage from above affecting you down below.
  
  Just a thought and something to check into.
  
  Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
  - 09/03/2018 at 7:36 pm #48316
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Insurance on our kind of business doesnt really work because they’ll only pay us for what we bought the items for, not for what we could sell them for.
    
    Our inventory is really not worth much out of our pockets. The real value comes in selling. Buy $1. Sell $30.
    - 09/04/2018 at 11:54 am #48340
      MDC Galleries & Fine Art
      Participant
      
      Location: Atlanta
      @huncrelan
      
      I was talking about the cost of the inventory, not the resell value. But at close to 8,000 items and for a guess and overall average cost of $2 ea. that is $16,000 of lost inventory, out of pocket if it was in a fire.
      
      Our average cost is more like $7 to $8 per item if you figure in the expensive items that we paid $50 to $100 for and our $1.00 items. We have approx. 1,200 items and that equates to approx. $9,600 for our true cost of our inventory. I would think that is work a few hundred dollars per year to get a “rider” to cover it in case of damage loss. But guess that is like any insurance, a person is betting against things that are catastrophic and each has to decide if it is worth the cost of a rider. To know that one needs to call their agent and ask what is available and the cost.
      
      Mike at MDCGFA in ATL
      - 09/04/2018 at 12:09 pm #48342
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        Agree Mike. And Jay, that is how I have always seen business insurance work. It replaces the value of the inventory, not the selling price. If you can document the value of the labor that is in the inventory (the time you put into listing, photographing, etc. at a reasonable labor rate) you should be able to recover that as well.
        
        No, you don’t get profit. But you get cash back to repurchase inventory and start over.
- 09/03/2018 at 12:08 pm #48297
  Sharyn
  Participant
  Location: Central NJ
  @sharyn
  I don’t want to sound like a mother (although I am one), but, if Ryanne did have strep, she should be tested by a doctor. If you don’t take antibiotics, it can stay in your system and possibly be fatal. At least, that’s what I’ve been told. OK, mother talk off.
  
  Week of Aug 26 – Sept 1
  * Total Items in Store: 1219
  * Items Sold: 11
  * Cost of Items Sold: $13.45 + $0 Commission
  * Total Sales: $193.78
  * Highest Price Sold: $34.46 Set of Decorative plates
  * Average Price Sold: $17.62
  * Returns: 1 (hasn’t been shipped yet)
  * Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  * Number of items listed this week: 0
  
  The buyer on my one return has been pretty annoying. First she says that she did not make the order, then says it doesn’t fit her so she is returning it, and, lastly, says perhaps I should ship her the correct size (but doesn’t say whether the pants were too small or too big). She seemed to imply that I should give her the correct size for free and mentioned something about feedback, so maybe she is trying to scam me. This was my only item with free returns, and she has a label. Just stop messaging me and ship it back! I think I can get any bad feedback removed because of the free shipping/free returns.
  
  My parents were in town, and I’m working on a non-eBay online auction for a friend, so no listing and no purchasing. Kids are back in school on Wednesday, and I’m continuing with helping my friend, so purchasing and listing will be limited for a few weeks. There are a few auctions that I’ll go to, but keep my spending low.
  - 09/03/2018 at 12:11 pm #48298
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    my mom said the same thing. i need to have an annual physical soon, so i can get tested then.
- 09/03/2018 at 12:36 pm #48300
  Doublythumbs
  Participant
  Location: Hopedale, OH
  @doublythumbs
  Aug 26 – Sep 1
  Total Items in Store: 1707
  Items Sold: 26
  Total Sales : $788
  * (nearly) equal yearly average of $787
  * above 2017 total week sales of $425
  Highest Price: $160 (Electro-Voice Mounting Bracket Kit for Sx500 Speakers)
  Average Price: $30
  Returns: 0
  Cost of Goods Sold: $31
  Costs of Goods Purchased this Week: $76
  Number of New Items Listed this Week: 23
  
  I have good numbers to report this week. My total sales is almost exactly my yearly average, which tells me that even during the slowest month all year I am doing just fine. I ran some dirty numbers over the weekend and came to the conclusion that if I continued at this rate, I could live okay with just the amount I’m currently pulling in through eBay. But also to consider… if I didn’t have to work a full time job and strictly worked on eBay instead, my store would grow tremendously and profits would increase as well, theoretically of course.
  
  I’m one of those people you mentioned in the podcast that comes home every night, cooks dinner and does whatever choir is needed done, and then works on eBay for a couple hours before bed. It’s been okay for the last couple of years, but now it’s getting old. I don’t know what free time is anymore or what to do with myself when I happen to have it. So I decided to give myself an end date with my job. I’m putting my two-week notice in on October 12th. It’s a dead-end job anyways with no chance for any pay increases or advancement opportunities. The nearly hour long commute is expensive. And most importantly, I’m burnt out on the whole tech support thing. I need a career change, so I’m going for it. But I wanted to be smart and safe about it. I built up almost a year’s worth up income in my savings account, made sure I have enough inventory to keep me going, and made sure my income on my eBay side reflect my day job income. The only thing I’m really worried about is how much health insurance will run me, but I’ll find out soon when I meet with our local insurance agent sometime this month.
  
  To the caller asking about an app that would make sourcing more efficient, I have one on my Android phone called Voyager. I don’t know if this would be something you’re looking for, but it basically allows you to input a bunch of addresses and it gives you the most efficient route to take to visit them all. How I utilize it, I take a city (Pittsburgh in my case) and Google all of the thrift stores in and around the city. I input all of the addresses in this app and it creates what I like to call my thrift store circuit. So let’s say there are ~15 stores that I’d like to visit in a day, you just set a start location (normally the first store you plan on visiting) and an end location (usually my house) and it calculates the best route to take to hit all 15 locations. It’s not useful if you’ve only got a few places you’d like to visit, but for 10 or more it’s great.
  - 09/03/2018 at 1:21 pm #48303
    totommyto
    Participant
    
    Location: Naples, Fl
    @totommyto
    Awesome! I believe we are all quite certain the good numbers are going to double fast with you!
  - 09/03/2018 at 7:49 pm #48317
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    http://healthcare.gov
    There should be no mystery how much healthcare is for you. You;re making almost $800/week right now. You’ll kick ass if you do this fulltime.
    - 09/04/2018 at 9:20 am #48331
      Doublythumbs
      Participant
      
      Location: Hopedale, OH
      @doublythumbs
      
      Thanks, Jay! I appreciate the encouragement! I just submitted an application on that site. We’ll see what kind of costs they’ll throw at me. Though it might be skewed because it asked what my current income is and I’m still working full time. I’ll look into COBRA as well until open enrollment starts I think at the end of December.
      - 09/04/2018 at 10:08 am #48333
        
        MDC Galleries & Fine Art
        Participant
        
        Location: Atlanta
        @huncrelan
        
        Been a long time since I reviewed COBCRA policies but if I remember COBRA won’t be less or inexpensive. It’s purpose is to just provide someone with a stop gap measure from losing or falling into the uninsured category. Usually if your employer was paying any portion of a persons healthcare costs then that amount is still needing to be paid, so it was usually the amount the employye paid added to the employer’s share for the total cost, or something like that.
        
        COBRA is supposed to just be something you pay for to keep covereage until you can find something else just for yourself and usually less costly.
        
        There are also groups like if you are over 50 years old AARP that offers group coverages as a member, so do most Chamber of Commerce’s and the such. I would guess that Jay and Ryanne are members of their local Chamber of Commerce and as such they may be able to get a group rate from the National group of CofC.
        
        Mentioning that, Jay I would assume is a member just to keep abreast of zoning regulations and the downtown community activities now that they are members of the main street downtown group.
        
        Mike at MDCGFA
        
        09/04/2018 at 10:26 am #48335
        
        Doublythumbs
        Participant
        
        Location: Hopedale, OH
        @doublythumbs
        
        Yeah, that’s what I was reading with COBRA. It might make a good temporary solution, but I just got some plan rates back and it might not be the best option after all.
        
        09/04/2018 at 12:13 pm #48343
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        Doubly: Congrats on making the leap!
        
        Our COBRA was very expensive when I went full time (like $1,200/mo), so we never used it. I went straight to paying on our own. Started at $600/mo, then with Obamacare, the company folded and we went to $700/mo, then that company folded and we were at $800/mo, then they folded. Now we are with Samaritan Ministries, and our family coverage is $500/mo.
        
        Do your research, and you will find a good option.
        
        09/04/2018 at 12:45 pm #48349
        
        Simon
        Participant
        
        Location: San Francisco Bay Area
        @simon
        
        Employers often cover part of an employees health care costs however when you use COBRA, you’re paying the full cost of the insurance without the employer subsidy so it’s often much more expensive. It’s often a good option when you’re between jobs however.
- 09/03/2018 at 1:03 pm #48301
  BourbonTrailBazaar
  Participant
  Location: Indiana
  @bourbontrailbazaar
  Finished out August strong!
  (Gross sales = sales + S&H charged as eBay reports them.)
  
  8/19 – 8/25
  
  Total Items in Store: 1073
  Items Sold: 29
  Gross Sales: $1261.73
  Net eBay Sales (After Shipping, Fees): $975.85
  Cost of Items Sold: $115.71
  Highest Price Sold: $180 (Board Game)
  Average Price Sold (Gross): $43.51
  Average Price Sold (eBay Net): $33.65
  Returns: 1
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $135
  
  8/26 – 9/1
  
  Total Items in Store: 1073
  Items Sold: 33
  Gross Sales: $1421.85
  Cost of Items Sold: $131.67
  Net eBay Sales (After Shipping, Fees): $1107.28
  Highest Price Sold: $250 (Prada handbag)
  Average Price Sold (Gross): $43.09
  Average Price Sold (eBay Net): $33.53
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $187.94
- 09/03/2018 at 1:19 pm #48302
  Julie B
  Participant
  Location: Georgia
  @julie-b
  Most weeks I work well over 40 hrs/wk at a full time job. It’s been that way for almost two years. But I love ebay and plan to come back to it full time so I’ve kept my store going. I’ve been putting the least amount of effort I can into it while still trying to maintain at least 900 active listings. I do shipments in the morning, which is usually just 1 or 2 items, maybe up to 10 on Monday if I slacked over the weekend. I spend probably 2 – 3 hours listing each week to keep the store over 900. Some weeks I don’t list at all. I thrift whenever I feel like it & I consider it to be a break because I love it. This minimal amount of effort has resulted in my lowest profit in years but it’s still nothing to sneeze at; on average this year my monthly profit has been $707.
  I see so many people on Facebook trying to make extra cash by selling their friends crap they don’t want through various mid level marketing schemes, and people posting about needing a flexible part time job for some quick cash. All they have to do is sell on Ebay or Posh! It seems like such a simple solution to me. But maybe that’s because I’ve been at it for so long and love it so much.
- 09/03/2018 at 1:42 pm #48305
  SilverFoxFinds
  Participant
  Location: Virginia Beach
  @silverfoxfinds
  @Doubly, I currently have very subsidized healthcare via healthcare.gov. Who knows where that’s going to go in the future, and I may have to pay back some $$$ once taxes come around and I see what I’ve made in 2018, but I’m happy to forecast income as low, pay low, then adjust the difference as long as I can. I’ve also heard good things about the shared care (non-health insurance) that T-Satt has mentioned. If needed, I’d move to just catastrophic coverage, since I see doctors so rarely (knock on a vintage wooden nut bowl).
  
  Overall weekly sales are steadyish. Looking for earnings to be better though, and definitely for # of sales to pick up. Running out of inventory/office space, so am working through death piles to free up that square footage, and then just stay more on top of listing right away as I’ve become choosier about what’s purchased. Too many days lately I just feel surrounded by unwanted crap! 😀
  
  08/19/18 – 08/25/18
  Total Items In Store: 879 (culled many items this week)
  Items Sold: 13
  Total Sales: $542.23
  Cost of Items Sold: $15.75 (sold several freebies, and a commission item)
  Highest Price Sold: $170 – Vintage Pendleton Gray Brown Wool Yakima Camp Blanket
  Average Price Sold: $41.71
  Returns/Refunds: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $153
  Number of Items listed this week: 35
- 09/03/2018 at 4:27 pm #48312
  ChristineR
  Participant
  Location: Southern California
  @christiner
  Total Items in Store: 404
  Items Sold: 10
  Gross Ebay Sales: $444
  Cost of Items Sold: $117 + $34 free shipping
  Highest Price Sold: $118 (set of 4 new plates – paid $58 less than 1 year ago)
  Average Price Sold: $44
  Returns: 1- one INAD spot I missed on an inner page of a $10 free shipping used book – refunded without return.
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $44 – 2 RA items
  Number of items listed this week: 2 those RA items
  
  Mercari: 2 sales for about $30 profit. I have an INAD return case as a buyer and Mercari is reviewing so will be interesting to see how that goes. Brand was misrepresented.
  
  Life is very stressful outside Ebay. One of those times in life when you feel like the wheels are coming off the bus and get insomnia. So the holiday weekend was welcome but still not really out of the woods. I’m grateful to have the sales since I haven’t listed much for a few weeks.
  
  Glad you are on the mend R and got some wraps. It’s amazing how you guys keep all of your balls in the air and seem to stay calm.
- 09/03/2018 at 4:52 pm #48313
  Steven S
  Participant
  Location: South Dakota
  @steven-s
  Lawn chairs shipping.
  Line them up with a piece of cardboard between each one, take measurements and find a sturdy box. Not a lot of padding necessary as they aren’t going to break, maybe just some reinforcement on the corners.
  I like to prepackaged large items so I have the exact dimensions and weight and I’m not stuck searching for a box when they sell.
  - 09/04/2018 at 12:15 pm #48344
    T-Satt
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @t-satt
    For lawn chairs, look behind Frame and Picture shops. We have found boxes for them in the past and they worked great.
- 09/03/2018 at 5:43 pm #48314
  The Thrift Raider
  Participant
  Location:
  @thethriftraider
  You don’t think the OUJI BOARD had anything to do with the bad audio, huh?? J/k, glad you’re better Ryanne.
- 09/03/2018 at 8:08 pm #48318
  ebaymom
  Participant
  Location: Ohio
  @ebaymom
  So glad you are feeling better, Ryanne!
  
  My Store Week August 26-Sept 1, 2018
  Total Items in Store: 1148
  Items Sold: 17
  Gross Sales: $397.13
  Cost of Items Sold: $25.72
  Highest Price Sold: $60 (Allen Edmonds Shoes)
  Average Price Sold: $23.37
  STR: 6.3%
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $62
  Number of items listed this week: 42
  
  Glad sales were a little bit better this week than the last two weeks – I cannot wait for Holiday Sales to come our way! Still – so many low ball offers to fend off this week. I was able to hit two interesting garage sales – one was an estate sale where the kids were trying to offload everything from their late dads house. There was a “Free” box filled with trucker hats … a lot of them.. probably 50.. all from the 80’s. I took that and ran! LOL.. I actually gave them a $1.00 for the box because I felt like it was supposed to be a “One free hat per person” deal… but I wanted all of them. When I got home, I realized they were in distressed condition (some of them) – so I washed them in the machine on delicate and air dried them and listed most of the better ones. Hopefully some of the rarer ones will sell for some money, but nothing yet – I know it is a long tail item. The other sale had a lot of vintage 1950’s items (more hats and vanity items and dolls, etc.) I bought some things and picked up a full length mink coat for $10 – vintage, no tag. It has a little bit of mildew on the inner satin lining I am going to try to remove with water/vinegar and then see if I can sell this thing. Anyone have any luck selling vintage furs? Personally not my cup of tea, so I better make a couple hundred bucks off this thing! (I think they are gross!)
  
  I hope everyone has a good week of sales and looking forward to listening tonight to the podcast. Welcome back!!!
  - 09/04/2018 at 6:26 am #48322
    BourbonTrailBazaar
    Participant
    
    Location: Indiana
    @bourbontrailbazaar
    I’ve dabbled with fur and I pick them up if they are very cheap. The thing to keep in mind is if the leather has dried out. If that is the case, the value is nearly nill unless it will be used as a prop or something. I took mine to a furrier here in town to have them inspected and cleaned. They charge $45 for cleaning, which isn’t too bad. The furrier was a great resource of knowledge and I am very thankful for their help. I have been in to see them several times and they love to talk about their profession and are some of the nicest people I have met while flipping. They even gave me a tour of their vault and were very excited about my line of work. I haven’t sold any of mine yet, but I only have 3 for sale. I see them regularly, but they are either overpriced (especially after I have them cleaned) or they are too rough to sell.
    
    Joshua
    - 09/04/2018 at 7:46 am #48325
      ebaymom
      Participant
      
      Location: Ohio
      @ebaymom
      
      Hi Joshua,
      Thanks for the reply…Good advice about going to see a furrier, dried out leather, and getting them cleaned. I don’t even know where a furrier is in my town – but there should be one around and I think that would be interesting to visit a fur vault and talk to an expert. I think the one I picked up has been improperly stored for so long and unfortunately IS quite dried out. I definitely don’t want to invest $45 to have it cleaned. I will hopefully be able to sell it for a costume or prop…. Best of luck with your 3 furs!
      -Sharon
      - 09/04/2018 at 7:55 am #48328
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        We very quickly learned that furs are a no go simply because people don’t wear them. When was the last time y0u ever say a woman walking around in a big fur coat?
        
        Fus coats are really an artifact of the “old days” when it was a sign of wealth. No longer.
        
        09/04/2018 at 9:19 am #48330
        
        BourbonTrailBazaar
        Participant
        
        Location: Indiana
        @bourbontrailbazaar
        
        Like everything else, there’s someone still in the market for it. They are long tail items and I don’t see myself getting into buying a lot of them, but I like to see old, well made things make it back into use. Styles and tastes change constantly and in the grand scheme of my business, didn’t cost me very much to bring them back.
    - 09/04/2018 at 9:54 am #48332
      MDC Galleries & Fine Art
      Participant
      
      Location: Atlanta
      @huncrelan
      
      We have a fur coat also but have not tried to sell it. Unfortunately I bought it as a gift for Susan back in the early 80′ Still have the original receipt. It was a $7,400 full length white Azurine Mink coat, long sleeve with flip up collar. Bout it at 50% off Sale for $3,700 and says so on the receipt. So now what we do with it. Was great in the day when we lived in Ct. But now down south and things being what they are?
      
      I have seen a few sell on Ebay for $200-$400. There is a person who used to be at the antique mall we had booths at that sold nothing but furs, leather item. He had a couple similiar marked at $700. So now it just sits in the closet in the storage bag. It is in very good condition, no issues at all, except no one wants them any more.
      
      I guess I could try listing it at $3,700 MO and see if anyone makes an offer. Maybe someone over seas in one of those cold countries like Iceland, Finland, Switzerland who wear heavy coats may make an offer.
      
      Any thoughts on what to do with a fur that we have so much money in??
      
      Michael at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
      - 09/04/2018 at 10:23 am #48334
        
        Doublythumbs
        Participant
        
        Location: Hopedale, OH
        @doublythumbs
        
        Maybe hold onto it in the hopes that fur will make a comeback? You never know, stuff goes in and out of style all the time.
- 09/04/2018 at 12:16 am #48319
  ShoeGuy
  Participant
  Location: Pennsylvania
  @shoeguy
  I think you guys mis-stated something. There IS a way to refund less than the full cost if you accept an INAD return and don’t agree with it. There is an option to refund less. I did this last week. A buyer said a pair of shoes was wide, not medium, and made an INAD request. I accepted it, but when I reviewed the shoes, I verified that they were not marked “wide.” I had to type an explanation, but I was able to withhold the original shipping.
  
  The other cool thing is after I processed the return, I got to a screen where eBay actually asked for feedback on the buyer. Apparently, seller notes disputing INAD returns are being attached to the buyers’ accounts so that eBay can identify scammers. I think the second page even said that the buyer will not see your comments. Bottom line is that it’s been a week and I’ve heard nothing. I think at this point the ball would be in the buyers court to dispute my refund, and then I’m not sure what would happen….
  - 09/04/2018 at 6:51 am #48323
    Ryanne
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @ryanne
    i guess the question is, does everyone else who does free returns see these options, to not fully refund the customer?
    - 09/04/2018 at 9:15 am #48329
      MDC Galleries & Fine Art
      Participant
      
      Location: Atlanta
      @huncrelan
      
      Yes.. We have that option also. It is with the Hassel Free Returns program. We changed the program options from Auto Accept the Return to We Want To Approve the Return. Once we did that, now we get a notice of a “desire to return” by the customer. At that point we have several options such as Return it and have Ebay send them the label, or pexchange the item, and full or partial refund. We can do that at this point, or if we decide to have the buyer send the item back, we don’t refund at this point. Ebay even has a warning suggestion to not refund until we get the item back and inspect it.
      
      Once the item is received back and we inspect, the page still allows those several options to fully, partially refund, which of course this would be the point to deduct the return shipping or only do a % percentage refund and a Notes section to make comments.
  - 09/04/2018 at 7:53 am #48327
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    This sounds like the old Beta Returns program where you could choose to refund what you wanted then the buyer had to dispute the partial refund.
    –Were you ever in that program? (still may be active for you)
    –Does anyone else see these choices when issuing a refund?
    
    Is what ShoeGuy says if true for all sellers when issuing refunds, I’d be very happy.
- 09/04/2018 at 7:49 am #48326
  ebaymom
  Participant
  Location: Ohio
  @ebaymom
  Hi Ryanne, Yes, with free returns I have the option to not fully refund…even for INAD. I see a drop down list that says refund “10%” “20%” “30%”…all the way to “100%”… actually in the opposite order.
  
  Also want to mention, I did NOT receive the “request for buyer feedback” option that ShoeGuy mentioned, but is has been a few weeks since my last INAD/free return – so that must be a new thing. I think that is a GREAT idea!
- 09/04/2018 at 10:40 am #48336
  Rhianna
  Participant
  Location:
  @rhianna
  Total Items in Store: 2091
  Items Sold: 40 (Bonanza 1, Amazon 2)
  Total Sales: $1254.98
  Highest Price Sold: $159 (Camera we picked up for $8)
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  
  Glad to hear Ryanne is feeling better. Being a full time seller has really given me the freedom to be able to step away when having medical issues. I have done minimal listings and scavenging the last two months and am grateful that I have ebay still bringing money in. Returns have not been too bad lately, seems like it was a mess in the beginning and now it has slowed down. I also added the $1 handling fee to all my listings, so this has helped.
  
  We will be leaving to Spain next week our our 5 week pilgrimage to the Camino de Santiago. We will be interested to see how our ebay store does while we are gone for that long. Being that we have mostly clothing right now I am thinking people are not willing to wait until we get back. Time will tell.
  - 09/04/2018 at 1:08 pm #48353
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Five weeks! That’s an awesome trip. Post some photos if you want to share.
- 09/04/2018 at 11:03 am #48338
  ShoeGuy
  Participant
  Location: Pennsylvania
  @shoeguy
  For what it’s worth, I did not opt into any special program like Hassle Free Returns. Here are the screens I get on INAD returns.
  
  https://imgur.com/a/zi2TN2I
  - 09/04/2018 at 1:05 pm #48351
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Let us check out return page next time we do a return. This is great news if true for everyone. Will correct myself on the next podcast.
    
    If the buyer disagrees with the partial refund, what happens?
    - 09/04/2018 at 1:30 pm #48354
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      Jay: Good question. I think that from eBay’s perspective, it is over. I would suspect it is on the Seller to communicate the reason for the partial refund to the buyer, and the buyer could leave negative feedback on the seller. Just speculation, but that would be my guess. Only way to answer would be to call eBay and ask that very question…
    - 09/04/2018 at 2:42 pm #48360
      ShoeGuy
      Participant
      
      Location: Pennsylvania
      @shoeguy
      
      Honestly, I have no idea what happens if the buyer disagrees. The first time I used it was last week and I have not heard anything yet. I’m guessing the buyer has a certain period of time to dispute, because the return is still showing as active and has not yet been closed by eBay.
      - 09/04/2018 at 3:12 pm #48362
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        Funny timing…listening to the EBay Radio Podcast now. Griff says that if you withhold up to 50% of the purchase price when you offer Free Returns, EBay backs you up. Nothing else can happen on the transaction.
        
        09/04/2018 at 3:34 pm #48363
        
        Jay
        Keymaster
        
        Location: Virginia
        @jay
        
        Huh. Incredible if true. Makes me feel much much better about Free Returns.
        
        Just curious what happens if buyers complain about abusive sellers who only give partial refunds no matter what. I dont envy running the system, but its one eBay is creating.
        
        09/04/2018 at 3:47 pm #48364
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        This would be a “Use with Caution”. Burn a buyer, buyer doesn’t buy from you, or eBay, and tells others not to shop on eBay…
        
        Something that is sometimes lost in our world…the adage “The Customer is Always Right”.
        
        This is especially true when they are not…
        
        We are retailers. Just because we interface through a screen, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t act as we would if we were face to face. Treat a bad buyer with kindness and professionalism, always.
        
        You guys are in a rural area, you know how strong that is. Veronica and I were born and raised in similar environments. Even when they are wrong, the customer is right. Treat a bad customer the right way, and you gain more good customers.
        
        You don’t have to win EVERY transaction, you need to with the MOST transactions…
        
        09/04/2018 at 4:29 pm #48367
        
        MDC Galleries & Fine Art
        Participant
        
        Location: Atlanta
        @huncrelan
        
        T-Satt… I agree but there is a BUT on a small part of that. Except don’t go so far to throw the baby out with the bath water. There is a fine line between agreeing to be agreeable and the customer is always right and not letting yourself be used, abused or taken advatage of.
        
        You sell clothing so think about this.
        
        You sell a shirt to a customer for $20. He takes it home, x number of days later he returns to the store and says he wants his money back because it doesn’t fit him right, or it is scratchy feeling, etc., etc. Now you can assume he may have wore it a time or two, maybe not, but you can not resell it as new now that it has been worn, or sweated in. BUT, the Customer is always right-right? So you hand him his $20 back but [WAIT FOR IT!!!], He looks up at you and says, but I want $6.00 more for the wear and tear on my car and the gas and oil it cost me TO RETURN THE SHIRT TO YOU!!!
        
        Well that is what this pay for the buyers return shipping amounts to… BUT there is that fine line I mentioned. Cust always right, scratchy great, here is your $20 but I am not going to also pay you to drive back down here to return it on top of that.
        
        Then the local Better Business Bureau says if you complain about the seller that he may has guaranteed a fit, or said bright nice colors and the BBB sides with the customer and forces you to pay that return cost, you are forced into doing it, but you just got abused by the customer, then in my case, they are not always right.
        
        Just saying, like you said, choose your battles but like a union, Ebay does lean toward the employee – buyer in my opinion a little too much. But we are a captive audience, er, Seller. 🙂
        
        Mike at MDCGFA
        
        09/04/2018 at 4:50 pm #48369
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        Mike, you bring in a good argument, but to make the analogy better…
        
        I asked a customer to buy a shirt that he has never touched, nor had the ability to try on. He is also allowing me to not need a commercial storefront, with all the LOH (Labor and Overhead) associated with that business model.
        
        Did I lose on that transaction? Probably. But do I gain as a business by having customers trust me to purchase a product they can’t touch or try on, AND have a lower operating cost as well? Yep.
        
        Small price to pay…
- 09/04/2018 at 11:48 am #48339
  Marie in Florida
  Participant
  Location:
  @marie-in-florida
  Much better week. Best so far as a Premium seller.
  Total Items in Store: 414
  Items Sold: 7
  Gross Sales: $199
  Highest Price Sold: $43 Obermyer Preschool Snowsuit
  Lowest Price Sold (Gross): $12 Mississippi Bulldogs Cap
  Most Fun: Lakeland Tigers Minor League Vintage Program. Sold it as warped, hope it doesn’t come back to me
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $2 Trying to replace a vintage knob on my Gma’s furniture. Asked at a thrift if they have any drawer pulls. Ended up going through a box they keep in the back.
- 09/04/2018 at 12:03 pm #48341
  MMVI
  Participant
  Location: Michigan
  @mmvi
  8/27 – 9/2
  Total Items in Store: 1205
  Items Sold: 11
  Sales: $756.23
  Cost of Items Sold: $130
  Highest Price Sold: $200 (license plate)
  Average Price Sold: $68.75
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $30 (a few local yard sales)
  Number of items listed this week: 142
  
  Low number of sales buffeted by a high ASP again. I had to do unplanned maintenance on the van this weekend, so I was unable to hit an auction or go camping for the holiday. Got a bunch of household stuff and listing done but definitely wish I had more inventory to list. I will likely have every item listed without a “to be listed” item left after this week. I will be finding a good auction on the weekend and loading up!
  
  I am one of the full-time day job people and it is a challenge. I manage a social work program for my State and it is a high workload position. I have eBay and another side business that I have grown over the last few years. Like other’s, I do this with the goal of retiring from the day job. I have loved the day job at times but it is far from how I want to spend the rest of my days.
  
  I have a goal to retire and it includes having at least two income streams that replace my current job income and a specific cash and investment fund in place. I am on track for hitting those goals by the end of the year, but as the leap from a stable day job comes closer there are times I question if I am crazy for shooting to drop a job with that security. Existential crisis running strong!
  
  Good to hear the podcast back and Ryanne feeling better!
  - 09/04/2018 at 1:07 pm #48352
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Its the classic golden cage. If you love what you do, keep doing it. If you dread going to work, it’s more fun building a business on your own. The struggle/insecurity is exciting to us.
    - 09/04/2018 at 1:31 pm #48355
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      “struggle/insecurity” — Very good words…
      
      Exciting, freeing, terrifying… 🙂
  - 09/04/2018 at 4:23 pm #48365
    MMVI
    Participant
    
    Location: Michigan
    @mmvi
    Very true Jay and T-Satt! For me leaving the job is not a question of if, just when. The parts of the job I love have been dwindling over time, not surprising just the reality. Being a bureaucrat was never a goal but it has rapidly become the persona I must put on 50 hours a week. Soul sucking!
    
    And the struggle/insecurity is something I am looking forward to. Being more directly responsible for my successes and failures is a huge motivation. Comfort is not my motto. I could ramble on for far too long on the subject, but a drastic lifestyle change has been in the works for me for years and it is exciting seeing the results of that work.
    - 09/04/2018 at 4:55 pm #48370
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      MMVI: Glad you are on the “Own Your Life” train!
      
      Just be careful how much you can really control, and when those fruits will appear. I will always hammer to know your numbers and know how to forecast what it takes to go full time, especially the capital requirements (both personal and business).
      
      When you now have a full week to list, you now need to PURCHASE that inventory. So, how much will you be buying each week? Will it all get listed that week (PS – the answer better be yes)? What is your average purchase price per item? So how much money will you spend each week to purchase and list new inventory? And what is your Sell Thru Rate, so you know how long it will take for you to get a return on your time and money in Sales?
      
      Forecasting your numbers is where it is at…
    - 09/05/2018 at 1:59 pm #48399
      Jay
      Keymaster
      
      Location: Virginia
      @jay
      
      Once we had our monthly budget locked down, working for ourselves is actually pretty stress free. If you’re frugal, it doesnt take much to live.
      
      We had our house paid off ten years ago and could be just floating along.
      
      Our stress is all self-generated because we’re ambitious people working on lots of projects that cost money (real estate). We dont need to do it, but its what keeps life exciting.
      - 09/05/2018 at 2:38 pm #48405
        
        T-Satt
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @t-satt
        
        Jay: That is such a big piece of the puzzle for you guys, having no mortgage payment. Removing that 15%-25% monthly cash expenditure is HUGE. This lowers the cash requirement bar as well as provides cash for inventory or new ventures….
  - 09/05/2018 at 3:40 pm #48407
    MMVI
    Participant
    
    Location: Michigan
    @mmvi
    Being frugal and maintaining a budget are great points when evaluating taking the leap to full-time selling. I have always been frugal and debt averse (other than those dang student loans). I only leverage when it makes sense interest rate and cash flow wise, never to subsidize an outsized standard of living. We stick to the budget. When I was younger I had no idea the power of budgeting and wish I did.
    
    My girlfriend and I have our living expenses way down. Camping and travel are the only splurges (the collective age of our vehicles is almost 100 year). We are actively looking for a new house in a different state with a relative low cost of living similar to northern Michigan. But we will be doing a large down payment in order to maintain a low house payment.
- 09/04/2018 at 12:26 pm #48345
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Jay and Ryanne: Loved listening to the Podcast yesterday on the drive back from Montana. It was like old times, as I used to listen to you guys a lot on the road before I left my last job.
  
  I’m way behind in posting numbers, will try to get to it tonight. I have the contract gig today and tomorrow, have to do a pickup on the OTHER contract gig, and mostly…get ready for a multi-day hike. I’m hiking the first 5 segments of the Colorado Trail starting 0’Dark Thirty on Thursday morning, planning to get to Kenosha Pass to be picked up on Sunday, then spending Monday with some friends in Breckenridge. This is a multi-day test to see how I’m looking before I do the full trail next summer.
  
  Will post numbers ASAP. I know our September is up YOY by about 15% or so. Last week started really slow on sales, but was solid throughout the Labor Day weekend. We had 55 items to ship this morning from Thursday-Monday. I’m really hoping to see our projected growth start taking off this month…
  - 09/04/2018 at 1:36 pm #48356
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Very awesome that your hiking adventure begins soon. This is what having freedom is all about.
    - 09/04/2018 at 1:44 pm #48357
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      Amen brother! Business will take a bit of a hit, with no sourcing or listing on my side for a while, but Veronica wanted this as a test for her as well on how it will go with me being gone and she has to be solo. By next year we plan to have a lister/shipper to help and to go the next step up in the business.
      
      Slowly trying to hire ourselves out of a job… 🙂
- 09/04/2018 at 12:27 pm #48346
  Geoff
  Participant
  Location:
  @norfolkgoldandsilver
  8/26/18 – 9/2/18
  Total items in store (beginning of week): 319
  Items sold: 4
  30 day sell through (rate): 5.37
  Total Sales: (no shipping): 51.49
  Average price: $12.87
  Cost of items sold: $6.00
  Average cost per item: $1.50
  Gross profit: $45.49
  Highest item sold / best sale: Bed Claw Queen Bed Modification Plate, 16.00, paid 0
  New items listed: 26
- 09/04/2018 at 12:39 pm #48348
  Simon
  Participant
  Location: San Francisco Bay Area
  @simon
  I saved the podcast for my Tuesday commute time today. (Paid holidays are a small perk of working a full-time job I suppose).
  
  I had a pretty good week last week. I had several high-value (for me) sales which helped my overall numbers:
  
  Total Items in Store: 2517
  Items Sold: 43
  Total Sales: $1177
  Cost of Items Sold: $115
  Average Price Sold: $27.37
  Average Cost of Item: $2.69
  Highest Price Item Sold: 2 sales @ $144.95 i) Starbucks Italia Automatic Espresso Coffee Machine and ii) Sony Alpha NEX-3 14.2MP Digital Camera
  Number of items listed this week: 46
  YTD Sales: $30674
  YTD sales compared to this time last year: +20%
  Average age of items in store (in days since listing): 320
  Average number of days between listing and selling this week: 193
  Median age of sales (in days, between listing and selling): 104
  Sell-through rate (for the week): 1.71%
  
  Regarding Ryanne’s comment about not seeing the buyer’s email address in PayPal…. For some sales I see the email address right under the person’s name in the order details but for other sales it’s missing. If I click the refund button for those sales, the email address is shown. That might be a work-around if you need it.
- 09/04/2018 at 12:46 pm #48350
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  PS – Regarding the caller that said that his business class professor wanted him to talk about his eBay business… I LOVE THAT! I have long held that this should be a required class for any business major. All aspects of a business are built into our businesses: Purchasing, Inventory Management, Sales and Marketing, Customer Service, Accounting, Shipping and Delivery… It is all there.
  
  Love that…
- 09/04/2018 at 2:01 pm #48358
  Steve List
  Participant
  Location: Richmond, Calif.
  @steve-list
  Numbers: 08/01/2018 – 08/31/2018
  Total Listings: 955
  Had 34 Sales for a total of $986
  Cost of Items Sold: $197
  Highest Price Sold: $169.95 (1997 book about furniture)
  Average Price Sold: $29 – Average Cost: $5.79
  Spent on new inventory: $333
  Number of items listed: 61
  1 GSP to England
  
  I had several days without sales in August, but overall I’m satisfied with my numbers. I hope to reach 1000 listings in a month or two, but I’ll keep listing past that mark. Best scavenge for me was 3 free Black+White Photography Magazine special issues at a yard sale. The lady just gave them to me, she didn’t want to sell them because they were full of nude photos. I just sold one for $30 (free shipping). At the same yard sale, I paid $5 for an old Longines watch box that contained several fraternal and other pins. When I got home, I discovered that two were 10k gold and one was sterling silver.
  
  Now off to listen to the podcast while I list.
- 09/04/2018 at 2:17 pm #48359
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  PS — Membership has it’s privileges…
  
  Just got a call from eBay on my cell phone. There was a VERO claim on one of our listings for the term “Moon Boots”. They said we had two days to correct.
  
  I asked why they were calling us. Usually they take down the listing and send us a message. The Rep said that since we are part of Concierge (since we went to eBay Open), that this is part of the service. They call us so that the listing can stay active, sales history is intact, etc.
  
  Much better system than just killing the listing and sending a note. Much better customer service…
  
  Can’t wait for Concierge to be rolled out to everyone (which is the plan)…
- 09/04/2018 at 5:03 pm #48371
  Castle Rock Emporium
  Participant
  Location: Between Boston & Providence
  @elizabeth
  I only ship USPS and I still have the ship from a different zip code option at the time I am printing my label. It may show up as an option because I have a secondary address on my account?
  The Ship from Zip is important for the Post Office for when the Government is deciding which ones to close…
  For the person who didn’t have a record after 90 days, since my shipping labels are PDF files, it takes me two secs to “save as” in a file in my drop box changing the file name to the date and the Buyer name (9-4-18 John Smith) and that has tracking numbers. (Also handy if printer jams) Then I can match the date and Buyer Name to the PayPal payments if need be.
  Elizabeth
- 09/04/2018 at 5:36 pm #48372
  jimi
  Participant
  Location: Delaware
  @jimi
  8/26-9/1
  Total Items in Store: 1671
  Items Sold: 19
  Cost of Items Sold: $57.53
  Total Sales: $453.20
  Highest Price Sold: $45(Dan Post cowboy boots)
  Average Price Sold: $23.85
  Returns: 2 returns – flannel sheets, shirt
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $145
  Number of items listed this week: 32
  
  A little late to the show this week but enjoyed the podcast and glad you are feeling better Ryanne. Below average week for me thanks partly to a couple high value returns($230 ttl) – both of which I felt the buyer was a little ridiculous and possibly taking advantage of free returns. I have offered 30 day returns for any reason for a long time now and I did reluctantly opt in to the free returns when that was rolled out as well. My sales overall are up significantly compared to last summer but I don’t think it is because of the free returns. One thing I notice on my returns is that the buyer will often email me before starting a return to justify why they are returning the item. Sometimes this is warranted and I appreciate it but a lot of times they will make stuff up and then make a INAD claim – all this after I have told them that my policy is 30 days for any reason. I suspect buyer’s remorse and maybe some kind of need to place the blame on ebay & seller could be in play here. Who knows.
  
  Happy sales and scavenging everyone. 4th qtr is about here.
- 09/04/2018 at 7:55 pm #48373
  simplicio
  Participant
  Location:
  @simplicio
  OMG I almost forgot to moan about the Mobile App for iPhone. If you haven’t updated it, don’t!
  
  It looks ok but drafts are inaccessible. You can start a listing, then save it as a draft, but if you want to get back to that draft you have to go to the browser.
  
  It really screws up my process because I upload photos on mobile then complete the listing on the browser. Now, I get only one shot at getting the photos right. If I screw up or miss a photo I have to start a new listing, or else email myself the photos.
  - 09/05/2018 at 11:59 am #48385
    Simon
    Participant
    
    Location: San Francisco Bay Area
    @simon
    The latest Android App update also has problems. Lots of complaints coming in on the ebay forums: https://www.ebay.com/android
  - 09/05/2018 at 2:23 pm #48402
    Steven S
    Participant
    
    Location: South Dakota
    @steven-s
    You must have the Android OS.
    I’m on an iPhone and can access drafts.
    I cannot access item condition descriptions or store categories which I’m hopeful these overeager developers will fix soon. You’re also limited to only 2 shipping options.
    
    If eBay is listening, how about you run you’re app updates past some real sellers who use it daily and have them critique it before just throwing it out there to see if it works.
    I’ll even volunteer to be a beta tester.
  - 09/05/2018 at 11:57 pm #48424
    mickdog
    Participant
    
    Location: Portland, OR
    @mickdog
    I updated on Android and can see drafts. Just made one on the computer to double check. Go to the drop down menu in the app and go to selling. They should be there under your selling data. I did have to pull down on the page with my finger to refresh, but usually they are just there.
    - 09/06/2018 at 8:21 pm #48456
      simplicio
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @simplicio
      
      They fixed it yesterday! Thank goodness for that.
      - 09/07/2018 at 8:41 pm #48482
        
        simplicio
        Participant
        
        Location:
        @simplicio
        
        Update: it’s not fixed. Now, the mobile app randomly brings up either the old or the new listing UI *in the same session*. Anything saved from the new listing page is invisible, anything from the old is OK. This is almost more ridiculous than what I thought the error was originally.
- 09/05/2018 at 9:49 am #48381
  bcfol440
  Participant
  Location:
  @bcfol440
  Welcome back! Ryanne, I had strep for the first time in 25 years this year. My dr. said it made a big comeback this year, so who knows. 🙂
  
  Sourcing updates: Clothing at my DAV thrifts has gotten to $7-$9/per item. Which has forced me to get very choosy. I have expanded my sourcing route to add more stores and had some Labor Day successes in home decor linens. I am working to learn this category beyond just grabbing all the Ralph Lauren.
  
  B/c of the local high thrift prices, I have been making weekly Goodwill Outlet Bins trips. It’s about 25 minutes from my house and I stay about 2-3 hours. I have pulled some awesome stuff that sold FAST. it’s the wild west so I also have to be in a state of mind to “deal.” 🙂
  
  i have rebooted my estate sales route with mixed results. Hitting day 2-3 of a sale is a good deal but I seem to be dealing w/ stained stuff. I have went to some “hoarder” houses of clothes horses, and yes, there are tons of clothes but the owner would get a stain and never throw it out.
  
  August Monthly Numbers: 650
  Sold: 62
  $2400
  COGS:$300
  Poshmark: 200 listed
  Sold: 7
  Sales: $138
- 09/05/2018 at 11:25 am #48383
  MyCottage
  Participant
  Location:
  @mycottage
  Just a heads up for those who attended eBay Open this year: We now have access to ebay Concierge customer service. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for me, I have nothing I need to ask them right now, but still, happy to see we finally got it.
  - 09/05/2018 at 2:01 pm #48400
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    –Are they going to open up the Concierge Program to everyone eventually as Tsatt says?
    –Do you have a special phone number to call someone to get personalized service?
    - 09/05/2018 at 2:05 pm #48401
      T-Satt
      Participant
      
      Location:
      @t-satt
      
      EBay said last year that eventually everyone was going to be at Concierge level.
      
      Same number to call…
- 09/05/2018 at 2:25 pm #48403
  aperture
  Participant
  Location: ARVADA
  @aperture
  Glad you are feeling better Ryanne. Strep throat is not a fun illness. I remember having it in my 20s and getting delirium from high fever. My gf at the time nursed me back to health with Diet Dr. Pepper.
  
  Well on September 1, I thought it would be a good idea to have a no-source September with the goal of getting all my accumulated stuff listed. I started working on it and got a bunch of stuff organized and some of it listed or in drafts. Then someone mentioned that now is when the thrift stores put out their halloween costumes and there is good money to make on high quality and vintage halloween costumes. I went to two of my favorite places yesterday and sure enough – came home with three giant bags stuffed.
  
  Today I thought I would hit up a thrift store T-Satt mentioned in a prior thread. It was senior day and such a zoo. I left pretty quick, and hit one more place next to the grocery store and found 15 packs of Hoyle playing cards for $0.49 each and three games new in the sealed box from 1968 for $1.99 each. Anyway, I am now set for a no-sourcing September. At least until I pass another garage sale with someone pulling their grandparents stuff out of storage and selling for a song.
  
  BEst wishes to you all, Daniel.
  - 09/05/2018 at 2:40 pm #48406
    T-Satt
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @t-satt
    aperature: I’ll bet it was a zoo! I haven’t been to either location in over a year. Crazy on Wednesdays and their prices were high. Plus they STAPLE the tags to clothing. Drives me nuts…
- 09/05/2018 at 2:38 pm #48404
  Steven S
  Participant
  Location: South Dakota
  @steven-s
  Worst summer for me since I started 5 years ago, some of it is me being complacent or lazy but not so lazy as to earn an average of $1000 less per month than other years.
  
  August 2018 $4038
  Items listed in store 925
  Sold items 74 (eBay 71 Bonanza 3)
  Gross sales total $4038 (eBay $3178 Bonanza $860)
  Returns 1 bike headlight radio, volume too low
  Highest sale $700 Pioneer Reel to reel
  Average $55
  
  I could’ve fought the INAD case on the bicycle light radio, the volume issue was more a reception problem or buyer remorse but I hate calling eBay over some amounts.
  - 09/07/2018 at 4:33 pm #48477
    Steven S
    Participant
    
    Location: South Dakota
    @steven-s
    Updated, I forgot to include a FB marketplace sale of record albums.
    
    August 2018 $4303
    Items listed in store 925
    Sold items 75 (eBay 71 Bonanza 3 FB 1)
    Gross sales total $4303 (eBay $3178 Bonanza $860 FB $265)
    Returns 1 bike headlight radio, volume too low
    Highest sale $700 Pioneer Reel to reel
    Average $55
- 09/06/2018 at 12:14 am #48425
  mickdog
  Participant
  Location: Portland, OR
  @mickdog
  Not being late this time to post my monthly numbers for August:
  
  I just had the best month in my 1.5 years of an ebay store! All my listing this summer has paid off!
  
  60 sales (record!)
  $ sold (minus shipping): $1552 (record and way above $1K goal!)
  Per sale average: $25.87 (goal over $25, so just over)
  cost per item average: $3.17 (lowest this year)
  
  Items in store peak for month: 715 (another new record!)
  
  Returns: 0
  
  Biggest sale: Amway replacement filter https://www.ebay.com/itm/192606167041 I found this in the hardware section of the local Goodwill, paid 2.99 sold it for $125!
  
  Sold a bunch of patches to multiple buyers. Sold some vintage sealed in the box legos that I won at an auction this summer that I was shocked I didn’t have more competition for. All in all a great month.
  
  Will be listing as much as possible in the next two weeks (wife will be out of town, son is back in school) before my job ramps back up. Would love to tackle some death piles (slides, pyrex, leather, etc.) and hopefully get up to 800 total items before the holiday rush.
  - 09/06/2018 at 12:10 pm #48440
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Huge congrats. Great when all your work and scavenging eye pays off. Do you have specific plans for your profits?
    - 09/07/2018 at 4:45 pm #48478
      mickdog
      Participant
      
      Location: Portland, OR
      @mickdog
      
      Thanks Jay. I’m going to post a longer motivational “you can do it!” post to new resellers sometime soon and I’ll go into more detail, but so far I’ve used the money to pay off a credit card, have some home improvement work done this summer, and help fund a party for my wife’s 50th birthday. And of course a good chunk gets rolled back into the business as new inventory.
- 09/06/2018 at 9:30 am #48436
  aperture
  Participant
  Location: ARVADA
  @aperture
  T-Satt, I got there 15 minutes after opening and the parking lot was already full. I had never been, so I walked around to just scope it out.
  
  I stayed long enough to make same observations as you and to realize that no matter how good the 50% senior discount is, I will not be returning on a Wednesday morning.
  
  Have a great day, and good luck with your 5-day hike. Best wishes, Daniel.
  - 09/10/2018 at 10:57 am #48560
    T-Satt
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @t-satt
    Try getting there 15 minutes before it opens, so you can get pushed around when the door opens…good times… 😂
- 09/06/2018 at 11:46 am #48439
  Retro Treasures WV
  Participant
  Location:
  @retro-treasures-wv
  Items in Store 1127
  Items Sold 29
  Total Sales $918.50
  COGS $80.35
  Total Profit $838.15
  Average profit $27.94
  Average sales price $30.62
  
  Long out of town weekend and jury duty this week so my numbers are late. I love when I do my numbers and realize my week was much better than it felt. Weeks like this I feel like Veruca Salt in Willy Wonka – I want it all and I want it now! Even though I sold almost 30 items and flirted with $1k, I’m not satisfied. I want more!
  
  It was nice to be extra busy with shipping.
  
  Anways, we went out of town to celebrate my wife’s Birthday over the weekend. It is a “working” weekend as I source the whole time as well. This was definitely the most I have sourced on one of our weekend getaways. I filled the back of the van and a cargo bag on the roof!
  
  The goodwills were all having a big labor day sale with not one, but TWO clothing tag colors at 99 cents. I spent…a bit of money on inventory. I spent $553.54 on 195 items. My average COGS was $2.84. The clothing I bought was 99 cents an item, with a few things thrown in that were full price of $4 each. Almost all of my shoes were $4 each, with the exception of a few specialty pairs I bought that were $10-15 each. I got two brand new pair of Mephisto womens shoes, and two pair of womens Prada Shoes. I had to race a fellow reseller to get those items as the doors opened as they were 50% off. I had scoped them out the night before.
  
  This was all bought during 5 shopping trips of around an hour each – I work very fast and high quality inventory is quite plentiful at these locations. It’s like this is my own private honey hole! I am actually quite picky on these trips and still buy a ton. Usually on these weekend trips I set the goal that any item I buy has to sell for $50 or more. With the dual 99 cent tag sale though, I decided to load up on clothing that will sell for $25+.
  
  Now that yard sales are wrapping up and I did this huge weekend buy, I think I’m going to shut down sourcing for a month. I need to maximize cash flow since we have a vacation coming up in just over a week.
  
  The things ebay pays for: Itself, car payments, weekend sourcing getaways throughtout year, vacations, and occasionally the house payment.
  My goal is to have ebay covering the house payment consistently every month by the end of the year. To do this I plan to list approximately 1000 items from now until year end. This should bring my standing inventory into the ballpark of 1500 by year end assuming I’m selling 25 items a week on average.
- 09/07/2018 at 8:01 am #48460
  pickyoldfussbudget
  Participant
  Location:
  @pickyoldfussbudget
  Hi fellow scavengers! I don’t get time to be on the forums much, but wanted to share something game-changing I just heard about on the Clutter Free Academy podcast. (Forgive me if it’s already been talked about on here). DUCK PACK AND TRACK!!! We just moved my business back home from an office, and now are trying to relocate all my inventory, listed and unlisted (which I refer to as “piles of cash, just waiting to be made”) in our barn loft, storage spaces and garage. This app is going to be a sanity-saver, I can already tell. Do check it out!
- 09/07/2018 at 8:06 am #48461
  pickyoldfussbudget
  Participant
  Location:
  @pickyoldfussbudget
  http://www.duckpackandtrack.com/
- 09/07/2018 at 9:31 am #48465
  Jay
  Keymaster
  Location: Virginia
  @jay
  If you pre-box all your listed eBay items, I guess this could be a solution for organization. But once you start having 1000 boxes in your inventory, you’ll need a big space.
- 09/07/2018 at 10:26 am #48466
  Temudgin
  Participant
  Location: Jacksonville FL
  @temudgin
  Actually the Duck Pack and Track allows multiple items to be listed for each box, either by typing or speaking, so this is functional for your typical bin inventory system. Or it’ll even work for a shelf system, by tagging each shelf cubby or location instead of each bin. The downsides appear to be that you have to buy the box tags (looks like $15 for a pack of 40 tags at Walmart – each pack contains unique QR codes so there is no limitation on number of bins or locations) and the item locations will be in the app and not in whatever other inventory system you’re using, though it looks like they have some kind of modifiable cloud-based data base available.
  
  Of course your listing, storing, and retrieval processes will determine whether this is helpful or just creates an extra unnecessary step for you.
  - 09/07/2018 at 12:43 pm #48471
    So Cal Joe
    Participant
    
    Location:
    @so-cal-joe
    The system looks pretty nice, but 37 cents a tag seems like a high enough cost to consider this a luxury, at least for me.
    
    I put the location number at the end of the description. I can search by the item (title) or search by the location (ie: H37). When I search by location or bin number, I specify item description.
    
    When it comes time to combine containers, this simplifies the process.
    
    It’s far from a perfect system, but it’s simple and works for me.
    
    I am in the process of moving everything, including my inventory (1800+ items) , about 100 miles away. As a result, I’ve been combining bins left and right. I’m so far amazed at the lack of missing or lost items.
    
    Thanks
- 09/07/2018 at 10:56 am #48469
  antarestar
  Participant
  Location: Maine
  @antarestar
  @mickdog – how did you know that was an Amway filter? I looked at all your pictures and someone else’s pictures but didn’t see any brand name. Did you recognize the label somehow or did you see a factory sealed “thing” and decide to look up the id number?
  Asking because I don’t know anything about filters or Amway but I like those numbers.
  - 09/07/2018 at 4:50 pm #48480
    mickdog
    Participant
    
    Location: Portland, OR
    @mickdog
    Antarestar, I noticed a sealed up item on the shelf and started doing research on mobile ebay and the web immediately. I quickly found some selling at that price and they had Amway in the title. I think I verified this by a google search and then later that day did a sell similiar with the highest priced listing on ebay. I don’t think I had it more than two weeks before it sold. I wish there had been more than one…. 🙂
    
    I’ve had pretty good luck finding “new” sealed items at goodwills in the hardware section. Often you can tell someone just cleaned out a garage or basement and just didn’t look anything up. I’m sure that was the case with this expensive filter.
- 09/07/2018 at 9:30 pm #48483
  antarestar
  Participant
  Location: Maine
  @antarestar
  Cool! Thanks for the explanation. “If it’s sealed up, look it up.”
- 09/08/2018 at 6:21 am #48487
  ThriftShift
  Participant
  Location: Charleston, SC
  @thriftshift
  ThriftShift (Port Royal, SC)
  
  8/27/18 – 9/2/18
  Items in store: 791
  Items sold: 36
  Sales: $2353.05
  COGs: $101.50
  Consignment payout: $170
  
  I had a great week. The best sale was an experiment. I had bought 7 antique Thonet bentwood “ice cream parlor” chairs last November at an auction for $17 total. I sold them for $1,000 on this past Sat with free shipping. I had them as local pickup initially but changed to F/S two weeks ago to try and entice buyers. The sale was Sat afternoon, I placed the offer on UShip on Sunday night for $250 (to New Orleans restaurant from SC). An individual hauling a truck to New Mexico contacted me Monday afternoon, picked up 7 am on Tuesday, and put the chairs in the cab of the new truck he was hauling; he dropped them off to my customer on Thursday night. The $250 helped cover gas expenses for him, and was really no trouble. He said he does the NY to TX trip twice a month down the east coast and across, so maybe now I have a reliable POC in the future.
  
  I also sold two pairs of Chanel shoes from my mother-in-law’s friend in Florida, but they are both being returned within a day of receipt for “fit” and “inauthentic”. Ugh. I had sold them for $200 each and sent the consignment to the customer already, so now they are “mine”. I re-listed at $390 each and will take an offer. I dislike selling these brand name items. I’ve sold a vintage Gucci briefcase before and had such drama with buyers. I’m not fighting the INAD on the Chanel shoes; it’s just not worth it with these buyers. If someone is going to pay $200 for a pair of ballet slip-ons, I don’t need their kind of drama.
  
  This past week we also sold our house and put profits in our retirement accounts. Now I am retired at 42, my husband has his own consulting business that he loves, and we have a 4 year old/17 year old in a rented house. We plan to move onto a boat this June, so all cash from ebay and consulting gigs is mostly going to the boat renovation (wooden catamaran “Wharram Pahi 42” model) and monthly retirement account deposits. We are trying to live off pension income. My husband is going on a two week trip to PA from SC for a project, so I’m looking at online auctions ending in his area, and he wants me to find a UShip job for him on the way back down if possible since he will have his truck. I like the idea of covering travel expenses doing UShip. Once the teen is in college next fall, myself and the small one can travel with my husband too, and we will try UShip along with ebay sourcing.
  - 09/08/2018 at 7:02 am #48490
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    Retired at 42 with a pension?! Could only be military, fire or police department. How much do you get a month for the rest of your life?
    
    Yeah, we avoid the super fancy brands like Gucci and Chanel. Too difficult to authenticate unless you pay one of those services.
  - 09/08/2018 at 7:46 am #48492
    MDC Galleries & Fine Art
    Participant
    
    Location: Atlanta
    @huncrelan
    Hey TS: One say in the middle about “re-listing” the shoes. I understand about not fighting an INAD but ‘ selling non-authentic” merchandise can draw consequences from Ebay. If they detect a seller doing this can’t they suspend a seller’s account or worse, pull a seller’s account down? A seller can take a misque on describing something or over looking a flaw and the item just gets returned, you correct the listing and relist. But if it is a “fake-knock off-counterfiet- inauthentic or whatever you call it that is agaginst Ebay’s policies and brings them into the equation.
    
    Now granted a seller may know more than a buyer OR a buyer may know more about an item than the seller, but rather than risk repercussions from Ebay itself, wouldn’t you want to validate the authenticity of the shoes before relisting?
    
    Just curious. Many of us here have gotton a VERO at one time or another and our policy is to pull the item or in some cases Ebay just kills the listing. But there are more serious things Ebay can do if they want to. Just wondering why you are taking the risk or have you already authenticated the shoes and are sure they are not fake and can prove it, and you know the buyer is wrong. If so, then hope they sell for you agagin quickly and you can get on to other great Sales.
- 09/08/2018 at 7:54 am #48493
  ThriftShift
  Participant
  Location: Charleston, SC
  @thriftshift
  Jay, I retired from the Marine Corps as an officer; 1998-2018. My DoD salary pension will be $45K a year. I receive word on Oct 1 what my VA Disability payments will be, which could be anywhere from $1800-3900 a month. I’m not trying to sponge off the government, I was a woman who joined in 98, got breast cancer in 2008 at age 33; the Marines were so great that they never considered separating me; I could still do my job of lawyering. So the DoD assumes my cancer was service-related (I deployed 3 times to areas with burn pits) and pays me accordingly. I had several side effects and resulting surgeries. Thank God I had two wonderful step-kids already and managed to have a miracle baby (my four-year old) before the last round of surgeries. After the experiences, I decided no way would I waste my life in an office after retirement, and so I am “owning my time” as you and Ryanne say. So MAYBE I will have a combined monthly pension of DoD/VA benefits of $5550 minimum – $7650 maximum. I find out Oct 1! A majority of it will be feds tax-free too. Sorry to go on. I am excited with my current ebay sourcing/nomad lifestyle.
  - This reply was modified 7 years, 7 months ago by ThriftShift.
  - 09/08/2018 at 9:12 am #48500
    MDC Galleries & Fine Art
    Participant
    
    Location: Atlanta
    @huncrelan
    Great numbers on the military retirement pension. My wifes whole family was and or is retired military. Army. Full Colonial [her older brother] with 3 tours in Vietnam, dad Master Sargent and mother civil services as a GS14. She was a fire cracker and for a woman in pants in the Army in the 50’s as a GS14 was almost unheard of. She analyzied manpower and basically kept the military from over staffing and goofing off. A woman going into a motor pool, putting stop watches of a bunch of GI’s then telling the base commander that it does not take 7 men to pull out an engine in a deuce and a half truck, so re-assign 3 of them. They didn’t like when she came in.
    
    After retirement she founded the Rape Crisis HotLine and the Rape Crisis Center in Georgia and from that most Rape Case victim program followed as their model through out the whole USA. She too was a cancer survivor in her late sixties.
    
    All have passed away now except older brother Colonial M.J. Wolfe. Boy what a joy he is at family gatherings. Still stiff as an oak board. Sir, yes sir.. funny
    
    Take care… mike
    
    I worked at Fort benning every summer out where the Airborne, Rangers and Green Berets trained. We carried food out to their mess halls. Who-Ahh! LOL 🙂
    
    Good for you.
  - 09/08/2018 at 5:13 pm #48514
    Jay
    Keymaster
    
    Location: Virginia
    @jay
    That’s an incredibly healthy pension + possible disability payment for the rest of your life! But you did your duty and earned it, so be proud. You guys can live well and have adventures now after your years of service.
    
    The current political system has done a great job destroying private union pensions and are now working on teachers and government employees.
    
    Really, the military and police are the last vestiges of socialism we have 🙂 It’ll be tough for politicians to go after those groups.
- 09/08/2018 at 7:58 am #48494
  ThriftShift
  Participant
  Location: Charleston, SC
  @thriftshift
  MDC, good point on the Chanel shoes. If Florence heads to SC, I am planning to go to a Chanel store in Palm Beach next week actually with both pairs, while sheltering with family down there. I am also going to list them locally on FB Marketplace too, to get them out of my inventory. Otherwise, I will likely pay for an online service. The original customer doesn’t have any receipts but says she bought them in NYC.
  - 09/08/2018 at 9:01 am #48498
    MDC Galleries & Fine Art
    Participant
    
    Location: Atlanta
    @huncrelan
    Ahh. Good idea to just take them into the store. They surely will know. As for NYC, that is where all my wife’s friends come back from with all of their brand name stuff anf all of it is fake. I can tell you everyone of her firends “Coach” purses bought in NYC “off the street” so to speak is fake, except for one we know. She buys nothing but authentic everything, from, shoes, purses, watches, but she has a lot of money so no problem for her. And by the way, as you are pointing out, their are stores all over the US that one can buy poriginal items from, no need to travel to NYC just to buy “real” items. Especially with all the online buying now. I would think Chanel located in Paris would be glad to FedEx you a purchase for an $800 pair of shoes. Probably would ship today! LOL 🙂
    
    In any case good luck with them.
    
    Mike at MDC Galleries and Fine Art in Atlanta
- 09/08/2018 at 11:07 am #48504
  DigVintageStuff
  Participant
  Location: Leeds, UK
  @digvintagestuff
  Posting my monthly numbers for August from a grey, wet and chilly UK. I’ve converted from GBP to USD.
  
  AUGUST 2018 – Total sales $2,127
  ETSY
  Total items in store: 1049
  Total sold: 37
  Total sales: $1,324
  Highest price sold: $128 Typewriter (to USA)
  Average selling price: $36
  Returns: 0
  EBAY
  Total items in store: 26
  Total sold: 18
  Total sales: $803
  Highest price sold: $522 antique Ernst Bohne porcelain half doll ‘Dresden Flowers’ (cost $6.40 in a charity shop)
  Average selling price: $35
  Returns: 0
  
  Money spent on new inventory: $351
  New items listed: 74 (all Etsy)
  
  Late with my August numbers – but happy to report this as our best month ever!
  
  More than half our sales in August were to overseas customers. The impending (UK) exit from the European Union has pushed the value of the pound right down. I voted to remain and think it’s a very bad idea, but I’ll take the Brexit export bonus as a consolation prize.
  
  Not much listing done this month as I’ve been busy with my other businesses and some decorating at home.
- 09/11/2018 at 5:20 pm #48624
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Ok, back from my hike and catching up on our numbers. I like this forum as an accountability driver…
  
  Week of 8/19-8/25
  Total Items in Store: 2,600 (Up 55% YOY)
  Number of Items Listed: 82
  Number of Items Sold: 66 (Even YOY)
  (Includes 1 Etsy, 1 Bonanza, 1 TrueGether)
  Weekly STR: 11% (Down 6% YOY)
  
  Total Product Sales: $1,956 (Up 20% YOY)
  Cost of Items Sold: $287
  Highest Item Sold: $155 – (Tie) Ermenegildo Zegna Casmere Linen Silk Blend Sport Coat & Burberry London Two Button Brown Herringbone Pinstripe Suit
  Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week (and I wish it counted twice since I had both) and Veronica leads for the year 20-14
  
  eBay Clothing
  # Listed: 1,681
  # Sold: 47
  STR: 12%
  ASP: $28.09
  
  eBay Shoes
  # Listed: 371
  # Sold: 6
  STR: 7%
  ASP: $38.06
  
  eBay Hard Goods
  # Listed: 548
  # Sold: 12
  STR: 10%
  ASP: $30.64
  
  Etsy Hard Goods
  # Listed: 155
  # Sold: 1
  STR: 3%
  ASP: $39.85
- 09/11/2018 at 5:29 pm #48626
  T-Satt
  Participant
  Location:
  @t-satt
  Week of 8/26-9/1
  Total Items in Store: 2,675 (Up 56% YOY)
  Number of Items Listed: 101
  Number of Items Sold: 57 (Down 33% YOY)
  (Includes 2 Etsy, 0 Bonanza, 0 TrueGether)
  Weekly STR: 9% (Down 12% YOY)
  
  Total Product Sales: $1,593 (Down 27% YOY)
  Cost of Items Sold: $319
  Highest Item Sold: $90 – Hart Schaffner Marx 2 Button Suit
  Competition: Highest Priced Sale: Troy wins the week (on a roll!) and Veronica leads for the year 20-15
  
  eBay Clothing
  # Listed: 1,701
  # Sold: 46
  STR: 12%
  ASP: $26.16
  
  eBay Shoes
  # Listed: 395
  # Sold: 4
  STR: 4%
  ASP: $36.25
  
  eBay Hard Goods
  # Listed: 579
  # Sold: 5
  STR: 4%
  ASP: $34.87
  
  Etsy Hard Goods
  # Listed: 160
  # Sold: 2
  STR: 6%
  ASP: $27.96
- 09/17/2018 at 5:04 pm #48842
  Rydell Relics
  Participant
  Location:
  @rydell-relics
  RR Store Week August 19-25, 2018
  
  Total Items in Store: 1561
  Items Sold: 18
  Cost of Items Sold: $15.65
  Total Sales: $381.62
  Highest Price Sold: $100 (1950’s Paris cabaret program)
  Average Price Sold: $21.20
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  Number of items listed this week: 1
- 09/17/2018 at 5:14 pm #48845
  Rydell Relics
  Participant
  Location:
  @rydell-relics
  RR Store Week August 26-September 1, 2018
  
  Total Items in Store: 1580
  Items Sold: 20
  Cost of Items Sold: $36.46
  Total Sales: $400.31
  Highest Price Sold: $53.99 (vintage massager)
  Average Price Sold: $20.02
  Returns: 0
  Money Spent on New Inventory This Week: $0
  Number of items listed this week: 11
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